Diary Entry

Sunday 7th July 2013 - I planned out and wrote up my Survey/Questionnaire that I will give to the potential customers of relevant students and subject teachers to see if there would be any interest in my proposed Theatre trip, allowing me to determine the most beneficial, relevant and feasible Theatre trip/event to run for my target customer of college students.

Survey/Questionnaire.

I will do a survey amongst potential customers, including relevant students and staff, to see if they would be interested in participating in my suggested Theatre Trip/ event. I will do this in the form of a questionnaire including relevant questions that will help me find out whether there will be any takers for the event/trip I am planning/proposing and whether or not it will be a feasible, relevant and beneficial trip to run. I may also ask these Questions as part of a recorded interview, in order to get the most accurate, spontaneous answers I possibly can. Below is a planned list of questions I will ask my potential customers of relevant college students and staff:

1) Would a trip to the Theatre be beneficial to your Studies? (please circle answer)

YES

NO

Why? (please give explanation) ............................................................................................................
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2) Which Theatre would you prefer to visit? (Please Tick next to answer)

-Shakespeares Globe Theatre (London)

-The Lowry Theatre (Salford, Manchester)

-The West Yorkshire Playhouse (Leeds)


3) Which of these Genres of Theatre productions/shows/plays would be most relevant to your studies? (please tick next to all that apply)

-Shakespeare

-Comedy 

-Dance Theatre

-Dramatic Plays

-Comedic Plays

-Pantomine

-Childrens Theatre

-Musicals

-Music Concerts

-Historical  and Classical Plays

-Modern and Contemporary Plays

-Other         (Please Specify) .................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................


4)Which of these Genres of Theatre productions/shows/plays would be of most interest to you? (please tick next to all that apply)

-Shakespeare

-Comedy 

-Dance Theatre

-Dramatic Plays

-Comedic Plays

-Pantomime

-Childrens Theatre

-Musicals

-Music Concerts

-Historical  and Classical Plays

-Modern and Contemporary Plays

-Other         (Please Specify) .................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................................

5) Which of  these specific plays/shows/productions would be of particular relevance to your studies? (please tick next to all that apply)

-A Midsummer Nights Dream, by Shakespeare. (traditional shakespeare)

-A Midsummer Night Dream, by Shakespeare (Royal Ballet, Dance-Theatre piece)

-Macbeth, by Shakespeare.

-Blue Stockings, by Jessica Swale.

-Setting the Scene, A Globe Actors Production.

-The Lightening Child, by Chè Walker.

-The house that stank of death (Drama)

-Master and Margarita (Drama)

-A Clockwork Orange (Drama)

-The Michael Clark Company: All three at once (Drama)

-The Tin Ring (Drama)

-People (Drama- A National Theatre Production)

-John and Mark (Drama)

-After the Rainfall (Drama)

-2 Faced Dance Company: Out of his skin (Dance)

-Music and Special events with Daniel O'Donnel

-Comedy Performances from; Ells James and Chris Corcoran, Josh Widdicombe, Pat Shortt

-The Secret Agent (from the Theatre'O's Company)

-Sweeny Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

-The Ugly Sisters (from the Rash Dash Company)

-Jumpers for Goalposts by Tom Wells

-The Jungle Book

-On the Other Hand, (by Fringe First Winners The Paper Birds Company)

-1984 by George Orwell

-The Letter by Jonzi D

-Mark Thomas - 100 Acts of Minor Dissent

-Beauty and The Beast

-Footloose

-Charlie and Lola's Extremely New Play

-Russell Kane - Smallness (Comedy)

-My Generation (Modern Play)



6) Which of  these specific plays/shows/productions would be of most interest to you? (please tick next to all that apply)

-A Midsummer Nights Dream, by Shakespeare. (traditional shakespeare)

-A Midsummer Night Dream, by Shakespeare (Royal Ballet, Dance-Theatre piece)

-Macbeth, by Shakespeare.

-Blue Stockings, by Jessica Swale.

-Setting the Scene, A Globe Actors Production.

-The Lightening Child, by Chè Walker.

-The house that stank of death (Drama)

-Master and Margarita (Drama)

-A Clockwork Orange (Drama)

-The Michael Clark Company: All three at once (Drama)

-The Tin Ring (Drama)

-People (Drama- A National Theatre Production)

-John and Mark (Drama)

-After the Rainfall (Drama)

-2 Faced Dance Company: Out of his skin (Dance)

-Music and Special events with Daniel O'Donnel

-Comedy Performances from; Ells James and Chris Corcoran, Josh Widdicombe, Pat Shortt

-The Secret Agent (from the Theatre'O's Company)

-Sweeny Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

-The Ugly Sisters (from the Rash Dash Company)

-Jumpers for Goalposts by Tom Wells

-The Jungle Book

-On the Other Hand, (by Fringe First Winners The Paper Birds Company)

-1984 by George Orwell

-The Letter by Jonzi D

-Mark Thomas - 100 Acts of Minor Dissent

-Beauty and The Beast

-Footloose

-Charlie and Lola's Extremely New Play

-Russell Kane - Smallness (Comedy)

-My Generation (Modern Play)

7) Which of these additional activities would be most relevant to your studies? (please tick next to all that apply)

-The Imperial War Museum

-Shakespeare Exhibitions

-Pre-Show Talk

-Theatre Exhibitions

-Shakespearian Workshops

-Drama/acting based Workshops

-A full guided tour of a theatre

-An Elizabethan Experience - Food and Costume

-A pre-show meal

-Facilities to buy ice-cream, sweets, food, drinks before shows and during intervals

-Tea Dance

-The Lowry Shopping Outlet

-Media City UK & BBC Studios

-Cricket Club and Lodge

-Ordsall Hall

-A Ferry Ride

-Other        (please specify)...................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................. 


8) Which of these additional activities would be of most interest to you? (please tick next to all that apply)

The Imperial War Museum

-Shakespeare Exhibitions

-Pre-Show Talk

-Theatre Exhibitions

-Shakespearian Workshops

-Drama/acting based Workshops

-A full guided tour of a theatre

-An Elizabethan Experience - Food and Costume

-A pre-show meal

-Facilities to buy ice-cream, sweets, food, drinks before shows and during intervals

-Tea Dance

-The Lowry Shopping Outlet

-Media City UK & BBC Studios

-Cricket Club and Lodge

-Ordsall Hall

-A Ferry Ride

-Other        (please specify)...................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................................. 

9) What day/time would you prefer to go on a trip to the Theatre? (please tick next to the one that applies)

-Weekends

-Evenings

-Daytime, During College Hours

10) How much would you be willing to pay for a trip to the Theatre? (please tick next to the one that applies)

£10 or less

£10 - £15

£15 - £20

£20 - £25

£25 - £30

£30 - £35 

£35 or more



ADDITIONAL COMMENTS - If you have any additional comments you would like to add, please feel free to write the below.
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Diary Entry

Saturday 5th June 2013 -  I received my quote from Acklams coaches stating how much my average theatre trip I am proposing would cost when hiring a coach. This is the quite I got from them..

£450 for a 50 seater coach. If we have a large number of students attending our trip/event then the most feasible option would be to hire a coach, as explained previously. If we chose to use this coach company for our trip/event then the most sensible and feasible option of paying for the majority of the cost of hiring a coach would be through college funding. Any of the cost of the coach that is not covered by funding could be split between each student/staff member on the trip, which would hopefully work out at a reasonable, affordable price for those people/customers participating in our trip/event.

Diary Entry

Friday 5th July 2013 - I made a list of health and safety considerations that may need to be considered and thought through when planning  my proposed Theatre Trip.

Health and Safety Considerations

Health and Safety Considerations we may have to consider and think about whf en planning a trip to the Theatre for Students..

-We will need to ensure there are 1 teacher for every 10 students, depending on how many teachers are available, may have an impact on the amount of students than can attend the visit.

-Using Public Transport could cause problems of losing Students, getting attacked/robbed in major stations, missing trains/buses and getting lost along with costing a lot of money.

-If using a hired coach company it needs to be trusted company with proffessional drivers and comply with health and saftey regulations in order to ensure full and proper health and saftey for staff and students involved in the theatre trip.

-All details need to be planned properly and fully to enable the trip to run to plan so that students fully benefit from the trip/event allowing it to become a successful trip thats fully safe.

Diary Entry

Friday 5th July 2013 - I continued my research into travel methods for the proposed Theatre trip. I researched the different possible coach companies in the local area of Hull. I then chose the most renowned Coach Company for being reliable, accessible, cheap and of good quality and sent them the details of my average proposed trip/event for a quote, through there website online form, in order to get a picture of how much the trip/event I am proposing would cost to hire Coach Transport and if we could get college funding for this.

I also got information on parking available for group visitors at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds which is the closest to Wyke 6th Form College in Hull (where the trip will be running from for Students) and therefore would be the most cheapest, affordable and feasible trip to run.

Transport to Theatre Trip

We decided the most feasible mode of transport to get to our eventual chosen event would be by either a hired coach or by using one/some of the colleges mini-buses depending on the size of the group, availability, cost and distance we were travelling. 

Travelling by College Mini Bus..

Benefits:
-Would be able to use college drivers. 

-Would be the cheapest method of transport (college funding) and therefore would be affordable for students who go on the trip.

-It would allow us direct, safe, reliable transport from Wyke College to the Theatre which would mean we wouldn't have to swap between modes of transport.

-It would be quicker, more reliable/safer and cheaper than using public transport as proven through previous research.

-Would allow us to take a small group of students directly to the theatre all together.

-Would be easy and accessible to organise though college.

Problems:
-It wouldn't be appropriate or an effective method of transport for a large group of people as mini-buses can only carry around 15 students.

-The Mini-buses may not be available to use at the time of the intended visit.

-We may have problems organising college drivers if none are available at the time of the intended visit.

-The mini-buses are more cramped and small and may be uncomfortable for students travelling for a long period of time.


Travelling by Hired Coach..

Benefits:
-It allows the opportunity for a larger group of people to visit the destination together, more people than the mini bus would allow

-It would allow us direct, safe, reliable transport from Wyke College to the Theatre which would mean we wouldn't have to swap between modes of transport.

-It would be quicker, more reliable/safer and cheaper than using public transport as proven through previous research.

-Would be more spacious and comfortable than travelling in a mini-bus would be, more convenient for travelling a longer journey

Problems:
-The cost of hiring drivers and the coaches would cost more than it would to hire out the College Mini-buses.

-We may struggle to get funding from the college to cover the cost of hiring the coach and the driver.

-It would take a lot more time, effort and research to organise a coach than it would to hire the mini-buses directly from the college.

-It may be a waste of money to organise a large coach if only a small group of students are going, could end up becoming unaffordable and unfeasible for students to be able to afford the cost of the trip.

Most Feasible, Cost Effective way to Travel by Coach..

There are several coach companies in Hull are the surrounding area that would be able to run and be hired for this trip including:

East Yorkshire Coaches..



Eddie Brown Tours Coach Operator..


Baldry's Coaches, Hull..



Abbey Travel Coach Hire..




Lords Coaches..




Jim Bell Coaches..




Acklams Coaches..


Northern Spirit Coaches..


The company that is renowned for its quality, cheap price, accessibility and reliability are Acklams Coaches of Hull and Beverly..
From There Website I have requested a quote to get a picture of how much it would cost for the average theatre trip I am proposing to run, here is the requested quote I have sent them through an online form..

Parking at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds....

               ^^^^The Parkopedia Website Shows the Locations of the Parking near the West Yorkshire Playhouse, there prices and opening time hours. The Quarry Hill Car Park has spaces for Coaches and Minibuses which can be reserved when making a group booking, there is also an upto 50% discount for those who make in advance group bookings.

I received my quote from Acklams coaches stating how much my average theatre trip I am proposing would cost when hiring a coach. This is the quite I got from them..

£450 for a 50 seater coach. If we have a large number of students attending our trip/event then the most feasible option would be to hire a coach, as explained previously. If we chose to use this coach company for our trip/event then the most sensible and feasible option of paying for the majority of the cost of hiring a coach would be through college funding. Any of the cost of the coach that is not covered by funding could be split between each student/staff member on the trip, which would hopefully work out at a reasonable, affordable price for those people/customers participating in our trip/event.

Diary Entry

Thursday 4th July 2013 - I started more detailed research on transport to my proposed Theatre Trip. I researched both feasible methods of college mini-buses and  hired coaches and weighed up/listed the benefits and problems that could come from both methods of transport.

Diary Entry

Wednesday 3rd July 2013 - I spoke with domanic and we both agreed that the most feasible mode of transport to get to our eventual chosen event would be by either a hired coach or by using one/some of the colleges mini-buses depending on the size of the group, availability, cost and distance we were travelling. We felt that for a smaller group of students the Mini-bus would be the most feasible method of transport as we could get funding from the college so that it would cost very little to get the mini-buses running, we could use the college drivers, it would be affordable for students, it would be easily accessible and organisable through college procedures, it would allow us to take a smaller groups of people together directly to the tourist destination, would allow for good health and saftey, would mean that we would only have to use one mode of transport to get there and would be quicker than cheaper than using public transport as found out from our previous research. If this option is unavailable at the time of the visit we feel that the next feasible methods of public transport would be to hire a coach, this would be more costly than using the college mini-buses however we could get funding from the college and this mode of transport would be much cheaper and quicker than using any type of public transport as found out from previous research. This option would also allow us to take a larger group of students than the mini-buses would, together, directly to the chosen event.tourist destination without having to swap over transport in between making it a completely safe and simple method of transport. Dependent on the group we end up taking to the event, hiring a coach may be much more feasible for taking a very large group of people to the event destination as you can fit more people onto a coach which would give the opportunity for the event trip to benefit more students as it would allow more people to attend the trip event. After the discussion, we both chose to go away and do our own independent research on transport to our chosen options for events/trips to see what we can come up with in order to find the overall most feasible method of transport for our event/trip.

Diary Entry

Tuesday 2nd July 2013 - I completed my detailed research on The West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, describing how the event would be planned out and how feasible this tourist destination would be as an event for this project. I gathered additional information on contact details, cost/price, feasibility, activities, best time in the year to plan this visit, appropriate shows/productions/plays for the chosen target audience of students, discussed using questionnaire to chose which performance would be most appropriate and beneficial to students,  added information on group bookings and benefits from booking as a group, screen shots, options for workshops and resources and detailed information from the West Yorkshire Playhouse's official website along with some comparisons to other similar tourist destinations.

Planning a trip to The West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds..

We would have our event in the middle of October as this would give us enough time to plan the trip successfully, would allow students enough time to save up the money for the trip, would be at a sensible time in the academic year as its out the way of exam periods and would be off peak season and would therefore allow the trip to run at a cheaper cost.

Whats going on @ The West Yorkshire Playhouse during the time of the intended visit (Mid October/October)? Shows/Productions/performances/events.

  ^^Above is a Screen Shot from the West Yorkshire Playhouses official website which show's what's on during the period of the intended visit/trip - Mid October/October. It also gives brief yet clear information about the productions plays, when there running and there cost. The three main productions/plays running at the time of the intended visit are:

-'Sweeny Todd-The Demond Barber of Sleet Street'

-'My Generation'

-'Charlie and Lola's Extremely New Play'

'Charley and Lola's Extremely New Play' is targeted at younger children and therefore is unlikely to be enjoyable, relevant or beneficial to the college students of whom the event/trip is intended for unless they are studying children's theatre by any chance. However both 'Sweeny Todd - The Demon of Sleet Street' and 'My Generation' are both of appropriate content and target audiences which would suit and be understood clearly by College Students, as they would be able to relate to them. They could both also be relevant and beneficial to students studies, dependent on what there studying in particular. To make the event/trip relevant and beneficial we can produce and send out a questionnaire to appropriate subject teachers/students to find out which play/productions would be most beneficial to students from relevant subject areas (drama and theatre studies, performing arts, English Literature  English Language, Music, Dance, History) as previously mentioned and discussed by me and Domanic. This would be an effective way to figure out which type of show/play/production would be most appropriate, relevant and beneficial to particular students at Wyke 6th Form College.

Both productions/plays 'Sweeny Todd-The Demon of Fleet Street' and 'My Generation' cost from £12-£28 which is relativity cheap for a Theatre Ticket. When booking as a group and for students who are classed as concessions we would also get discounts which means the cost of each ticket would be closer to the £12 mark, making this trip/event affordable and feasible for the Student Target Customer this event/trip is intended for (especially with students typically having a low income and not a lot of money to spend on luxuries like trips and events).

October, in must Theatres, is typically not the predominant 'Theatre Season' and therefore it may be a possibility to consider the months surrounding October - both September and November which may open up more options to which shows/events we can take a trip of Students to see. Both November and September are also sensible months in the year for a Theatre Trip/Event as there out the way of major exam periods and won't cause much disruption to academic learning. Also, many Theatre productions/shows run on Evenings and Weekends which leaves the possibility of Students not having to miss and College Lessons or learning at all so they won't fall behind, making this Theatre Trip/Event even more feasible.

Main Productions/Plays running in September at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds are listed below (print screen/image), information given directly from the West Yorkshire Playhouse's Web Page:

     ^^Plays/Productions on during September at The West Yorkshire Playhouse are..

-The Secret Agent

-Sweeny Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

-A Midsummer Nights Dream

-The Ugly Sisters

-Jumpers for Goalposts

^^The content of all these plays would be appropriate, interesting and relevant to many Students, which is essential as this trip/event is targeted towards the Customers of College Students. 'A Midsummer Nights Dream' particularly stands out to me as something that could be relevant and benificial to many different types of Students as for example English Students Study Shakespeare, Its a piece of theatre and a Performance and is therefore relevant to Drama and Theatre Studies and Performing Arts Students and its also relevant to dance students as its A Dance Theatre piece will professional dancers form the Northern Ballet. However many of the other plays in September at the West Yorkshire Playhouse could also be relevant and beneficial to a range of different Students studies. The type of Theatre Performance we take students to go and see would depend on the feedback of questionnaires and meetings with relevant subject teachers/students to establish the most appropriate production/play to take Students to and see as part of a Theatre trip/event.

Main Productions/Plays running in November at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds are listed below (print screen/image), information given directly from the West Yorkshire Playhouse's Web Page:

    ^^Above shows the productions/plays of at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds in November, information taken directly from there official website, such as:

-The Jungle Book

-On the Other Hand

-1984

-The Letter

-Mark Thomas - 100 Acts of Minor Dissent

-Beauty and The Beast

-Footloose

-Charlie and Lola's Extremely New Play

-Russell Kane - Smallness

^^ In November, it can clearly be seen that there are three times as many productions/ plays/ shows available to see than there is in the month of October, when the event/trip was originally intended to run. It would therefore be worth considering putting the event/trip back to November as it would leave a lot more choice of productions shows/ plays for Students to go see and therefore is going to more likely be relevant and beneficial to student study. As in November there are a variety of performances available to watch from classic plays to comedy to pantomimes to children's theatre to musical to historical plays, there's bound to be something that will be relevant and beneficial to Student Study. There is also the possibility of combining seeing a matinee (afternoon) show with a evening show which would allow students to see more stuff, make the most of there trip, be more educational and allow them to make comparisons and understand the depths of theatre more. The tickets also start from £12 which a relatively cheap for a theatre ticket with added concessions for students and discounts for group visitors making the trip/event overall more affordable and feasible for students.

Also.. Taking Students for a Theatre trip/event in September would have the benefit of helping Students prepare them for the course ahead of them and taking students for a trip in November/End of November would have the benefits of acting as an enjoyable but educational Christmas Treat

Here is specific information/research on Group Bookings at the West Yorkshire Playhouse from there official website (screen shots) giving details of the discounts, benefits and advantages you can receive from making a group booking with them which makes a trip/event at the West Yorkshire Playhouse much easier, cheaper and beneficial:

             ^^Contact details are also made clear above which will allow us to easily make a group          booking with the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds.

There are also food and drink facilities on sight at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, information as this are given below as shown on there official web site:

         ^^This allows us to make more of the visit, allowing students the chance to have a pre-show meal or buy sweets, ice-scream, cold drinks or hot drinks to take in with them while they watch the performance/show/play/production, making the trip more feasible.


Below is more information provided by the West Yorkshire Playhouse's Website about Group Visits, more specifically about School Visits, information that is also relevant to College Student visits. Such as information on prices discounts, resources and work shops that could help make this trip/event more enjoyable, interesting  relevant  educational, beneficial  worth while, affordable and feasible....

Diary Enrty

Monday 1st July 2013 - I started to develop my research on the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds by doing more detailed research on how this trip/event would work and be planned for the travel and tourism events project. I began developing further information on how feasible this trip would be and gathered research on the best time period of the intended visit, what shows/productions/plays/performances were on at the time of the intended visit, prices, cost, suitable activities for the target customer for this trip/event -students and the general feasibility of running this particular trip/event.